Main Discussion Area > Shooting and Hunting
slightly ticked off a deer earlier this month.
bradsmith2010:
sometimes a self bow looks center shot, ,but the limbs are configured so it is not shooting like that,, or it looks center shot at brace but does really not line up like that,, at some point you have to believe how the bow is shooting,, or not shooting,,
if you look at Native American bows,, you can see,, center shot bows were not needed,, I have some bows where the string is toward the arrow side that are pretty close,,I did read Badger say he shot a bow that had the string alignment off to the side, and it shot well for distance,, so I think there is a sweet spot on every bow were the arrow shoots best,, sometimes upside down,, :)
I usually take my best practice arrow,, and put a head on it for shooting at a deer,,
20 to 25 yards is a long shot for me,, I have killed deer out there,, but if they jump or flinch you will not hit where you were aiming,,
if I was going to shoot a stone head,, I would put masking tape on it to keep it sharp and shoot it into something soft,, worn out hay bale or something,,
sleek:
Well to continue the story....
Having got my arrows finally flying straight I marched back out into the woods next morning. It was cold with a breeze and I was up a tree. After about two hours of trying to vocally mimic the sounds of a doe in heat I gave up the dear stand. Reckon I scared every thing off. The wind was perfect to take a walk down a well worn trail. The path was a large circle that would take me 3 hours to meander. I reckoned even if I didnt see anything I would push deer in the direction of my stand and maybe set myself up for when I got back in the tree.
On the last bit of the walk I saw a few rubs and considered squating an a fallen tree to see what would happen by me. I decided to go a bit further up a hill to see if I could find a spot to sit and wait hoping for a down hill shot. It was further up the hill when I found a nice sice run on a larger cedar. Looking around I found a spot of tall grass growing taller than my head. It gave me 15 yards to the tree should the fellow come pay a visit to the tree. I got into the grass and started making my man nest. This consists of plucking the grass out the ground from under me and sweeping away the leaves so I can fidget without noise. I pulled grass and brush that would interfere with rotating my bow and hit my arrow. The nest became around 5' wide in diameter. I could crouch all the way down and not be seen nor heard but I could hear anything approaching.
Quite content with my set up I wait. The sun begines to cast growing shadows through the trees as I listen to the random thumping of acorns falling, hitting branches on the way down, resting on the leaves covering the ground below, perhaps to be found by a squirrel, a deer, or my feet to crunch alerting all of nature to my presence. I rattle my quiver of arrows every 20 minutes or so hoping to bring in a tirdy point buck. Eventually the sun disappeared beneath the tree cover, not to be seen again until tomorrow. The woods come alive at that moment, as if some spirit swept across the land, released by the golden tone of the sky, to wake the woodland from its slumber. Squirrels chattered and chased. Mice scampered underneath the ground cover. Armadillos casually cruched through the ground rooting as they do.
Being somewhat drowsy I am feeling at peace. I feel like I belong right where I am at. Its not a feeling that happens often. You would have to experience it to understand. The rustling of an armadillo behind me got my attention again. As it came from a thicket line and got closer I wondered if he wouldnt visit me. I turned to take a peak and see if he was visible yet. I couldn't see an armadillo but 15 yards behind me stood quite a nice doe. I pivoted on my toes and came to a crouched position all while perfectly hidden, just as I had practiced many times before.
I slowly stood to clear the arrow of the grass and came to draw. I dont know what made her, but she stopped and looked directly at me. I froze. I came to realize this was to be a staring match. Not wishing to strain my muscles or my bow, being as it was approximately 9/10 the way pulled to breaking, slowly my draw arm came forward to relieve the stress on my limbs, and my limbs. She didnt notice. The ground required her attention more than I did after a moment and her head once again dropped to the ground, her head burried to her neck in the grass. I was a ghost. I could see her back and right shoulder. I picked the spot in the grass I wanted the arrow to vanish in, knowing what must be on the other side. I felt my finger touch my mouth as the arrow came back, my limbs once again under strain. I remember thinking, everything is right. Im going to make this shot.
Then pressure of the string was gone from my fingers and the arrow was on its way. It disappeared in the very spot I had picked in the grass. I heard a loud thud and the doe lost all interest in what was on the ground. She was off. She ran a circle first not knowing where to run to or from. I heard her crash twice in the distance and then, silence. The hunt was over... or so I thought.
My phone is dying and my food just arrived at the restaurant so..... to be continued.
sleek:
I stood up after she was gone to find my arrow and look for blood. I took three steps and busted two deer 7 yards from me. Like I said, the grass was tall. They ran 10 yards and stopped. I decided to only worry about the doe and continued walking. They both vanished into the dark thicket. I think my man nest is in a good spot. After walking the exact path my arrow flew I stopped at the patch of grass I saw the arrow disappear into. No blood.I searched for hours not finding an arrow or blood. I gave up frustrated and hopeful for the next morning.
I got there late the next morning. I looked for a disheartening amount of time not finding blood or arrow. Finally after doing an expanding grid search I found blood and lots of it! A hit! It took 30 min to find a direction on the blood trail. It was heavy, splatter on the fall leaves and wiped on the tall grass. This is gonna be easy! Heavy blood easy to track, I bet she was just on the other side of this hill. I tracked her 75 yards, certain every step would bring me to her body.I found laying there half my arrow. The point side. Actually more like 2/3 of my arrow and a large amount of blood. I think she rolled there to scrath that itch I gave her.
The trail took me to a creek. I lost it there. I did circles but thats not easy because the blood may be on the opposite side of the stalk right infront your face. Every leaf had red drops on it from fall colors. I spit on my finger and scratched the leafs that looked like blood hoping to win the lottery. I searched two hours on my hands and knees before I picked up the trail again. Like a blood hound I was off again, on my hands and knees mind you, searching sometimes 8-10 feet before I found only a drop of blood. Most of this has been an up hill journey. Literally up hill, and steep.
I tracked her to a large patch of what looks like bamboo but its a different type of grass. Not sure what but its thick. I was sure she bed down in there to take a nap. Nope. No body no blood. I lost the trail again. I spent another hour and a half looking. Finally I gave up and just went down the side of the hill towards a flat spot thinki g thats the way she may have gone. Sure enough I found blood again. Once more on hands and knees I tracked her out the woods to a pasture of tall dead grass. There on the edge I found the other half of my arrow. Covered in bubble dried blood. A lungshot for sure. SSomewhere in that tall pasture grass I was sure she must have bedded. I spent three hours looking before I gave up, got the four wheeler, and grid searched the entire pasture, with zero results of course. I went back and marked the blood trail with arrows and drew a straight line. I followed the line 20 feet before I found blood again. I didnt need to crawl for the first time since I started, the blood was on the grass at waste height.
The trail headed straight for a gravel road. I reached the road and of course, lost the trail again. On the other side of the road was a wire fence, it marks the bou dry between where I had permission to be and didnt. I che ked the fence line but no deer. I drew a line again again with the blood trail and went to the fence. I could see deer had crossed under before but that was obvious all down the fence line. I thought long and hard about what I was about to do. I dont know the owner of the land. There is no house on it and the odds are slim of being caught. The owner is an older fellow and would probably understand. I wasnt going to walk away from my deer. I crawled under. Instantly I was rewarded with blood, and not my own even, though I did crawl on fallen thorns from honey locust trees. The place was filled with them. Great, honey locust, briars, and hands and knees. I spent a few hours looking before the trail stopped again. I drew a straight line from the last few spots of blood I found and walked, never to find blood again. I decided I would see whats in the medow past this and give up. I wasnt on my property and the shadows were once again getting long. I was out of time. I saw a rock on the other side of a cedar. I would stand on it and take one last look around. I got to the tree only to discover the rock was a deer! MY DEER! I gave thanks and dragged her out to the fence and back under. Brought my truck down the road and loaded her up. Seven hours of tracking five hundred yards on my hands and knees had been rewarded. Upon autopsy I discovered I had hit the stomach on entry, the diaphragm, the back of one lung and completely opened up the other before it existed. I hit right where I was aiming. She must have been the most stubborn deer ever. Lucky if froze the night before and she was preserved well enough.
Sorry for the long read but I promise, the hunt was longer.
sleek:
sleek:
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